How to Install VMware vSphere 6.5

To start, you need an installation kit of vSphere 6.5. For this article, I will use the vSphere version I downloaded from my VMUG Advantage account (VMware-VMvisor-Installer-201704001-5310538.x86_64.iso).

You need to boot from the image you downloaded. This operation highly depends on the medium and the maker of the system where you are going to install vSphere, so I will not go into specifics. For example, I will install vSphere into a virtual machine (a configuration unsupported by VMware, but often seen in home labs), so I will just mount the iso file into the cd drive and power on the VM.

Install VMware vSphere 6.5

As soon as your system boots, you will see a “Loading ESXi installer screen”:

We will then pass through a well-known yellow screen. Nothing to do, just wait:

Few moments later and finally our input is required. Press Enter to continue, or Cancel to abort:

We then need to read and accept the End User License Agreement. Press F11 to continue or Escape to abort.

Next phase is a short one, vSphere is scanning our storage devices to find available installation paths.

We now have to make our first decision. In my case I have a single disk so I will just press Enter to continue. You may have multiple devices listed here, make sure you plan where do you want to install vSphere and make the choice accordingly.

Next we have to select the desired keyboard layout. I will keep the default one, but you may change according to your needs. I will press Enter to continue.

We now need to enter the root password twice. Check this article for ESXi password requirements.

Provided you met the requirements and you succeeded to enter the same password twice (always a challenge!), you will see “Passwords match” message. Press Enter to continue.

vSphere is doing another quick round of scanning:

We need now to confirm the installation. This is the last wizard step where you can cancel the installation. Press F11 to proceed.

Installation starts:

Installation process is pretty quick. In few minutes you will see the “Installation Complete” message! Remove the installation kit you used to boot the server up, then press Enter to reboot.

vSphere quickly starts the reboot process.

In no more than few minutes, you will have the VMware vSphere 6.5 up and running! You can now use the IP address listed in on your screen to configure vSphere.